Mentally Ill Stripped, Beaten and Robbed in Home

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

(Memphis) Police have two men in custody for allegedly terrorizing and torturing a group of mentally ill people. It happened in Southwest Memphis on W. Levi Road early Saturday morning when police say the two men barged into a care home and made all of the people strip off their clothes. Police say Tony Love beat them with a baseball bat and Anthony Oldham cut them with a knife.

They are thanking the police for saving their lives. The group of about 15 people who were rescued by police say they are still traumatized because they really believed they were going to die.

Kenneth Lamont McCline's biggest battle may be his bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia, but today his mind is filled with another kind of terror.

“They were going to kill us,” he said tearing up.

He had to run naked out of the house into the protection of police when two men barged-in at 2 a.m. demanding everyone's disability checks.

“They just pulled out a knife and started cutting people,” said Kenneth Doyle, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. “They made us get naked and lay down on the floor.”

“I had just got my check. He took a lot of money off all of us,” said McCline. “Half the women were raped. He beat them.”

“He raped them?” asked Reporter Sabrina Hall.

“He beat them. He was going to rape them. He beat them. By the grace of God, somebody called the police,” said McCline.

The mentally ill residents who live in the house were forced to strip naked and suffer a brutal beating police say at the hands of Oldham and Love. One of the victims who wouldn't take off his clothes was the most seriously hurt.

“He cut one dude across the face,” said Doyle.

“They took everything I have and most of them got beat with baseball bats,” said McCline.

When police got there, their guns were drawn

“You went out the front door naked?” asked Hall.

“Yes. Butt naked,” said McCline

“Everybody else naked?” asked Hall.

“Yes ma'am.”

While the robbers are locked up now, Kenneth says the terror still lingers.

“It was horrible. I thought I was going to die,” said McCline.

He'd rather go back to where he came from than stay there, “I just came out of the hospital, the mental hospital. I can't stay here because I'm scared for my life.”

MPD’s Crisis Intervention Team took McCline to the Memphis Mental Health Institute so he could get some help. An officer with the CIT unit says there are many homes around the South Memphis area that house the mentally ill but he’s never seen something like this happen before.

The man who suffered a knife wound across is face is still in the hospital.

The two men charged with aggravated robbery are being held in jail without bond.

Steve

Is that all a bigot like you can say? … when a white escape killer come to memphis is that black on black too idiot? Cowards like yourself only get chance to express your racist views while hiding behind a computer screen. I bet you are the type that send your ole lady out to fight a man before you do …

dumbwhitesnowbeastaresavages

Patricia you can call the Attorney General’s Office at 201poplar.They will tell you who is assigned to handle the case or you can go too shelby countu jssi website and search these dogs name and get the same info.

Shistang

toby

And you know nothing about slavery and the history of it, you blame white people for it when in fact your OWN people helped sell slaves into the trade from Africa, your OWN people owned slaves in the United States, and the FIRST slave owner was in fact BLACK.

Mo

Just to think tony love have been stayn in an out my grandma’s house with with us why I haven’t been pregnant and with my grandma has been there alone for so many years who’s the think that he would do something like this I just want to thank the Lord that he had never get a chance to do this to my grandma just the thinks she just put him at her house 2 weeks ago and now I see on the news that he have done something like this you can never be found around my grandma’s house anymore it’s sad to see that love have went this far then he will hurt these people just to smoke crack I hope that he gets whatever time he deserves it ..

MikeBarret

Steve

Nonya Bidness

Like I said, only an ldiot disagreed with me. They are like parrots, regurgitating the catch pharses but not knowing what they mean…. socio-economic factors ….. which is to say …. I have an excuse for my bad behavior ….. whitey bees appres’in me.

MissTee

I wouldn’t say I’m ashamed. They don’t represent me any more than these criminals represent their skin color. However, I will be glad when WREG either shuts down the comments sections or requires login through Facebook. If they were required to use their real names, they’d disappear like smoke. They make Memphis look bad. They are worse than any of the crimes they like to comment on. Cowards. They deserve no regard.

MissTee

Yes, L M G, because white people never use, abuse, or sell drugs. White people don’t use or abuse guns. White people do not get involved with gangs or do anything questionable at any time. White people are pure.

Or maybe you are just a fool with nothing but hate to offer the world.